Welcome to the Dollhouse Episode 32: Performance Feminism with Kit Kowalski and Edie Wyatt.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to discuss the contemporary state of feminism
Earlier this week we heard Clementine Ford spruiking her new book against marriage.
Clem likes to be provocative and then dine out on the stories of Hate Male. While we aren’t opposed to surfacing male violence against women, Clem’s MO seems to be (1) feed trolls (2) collect hate mail (3) write article about hate mail (4) get praise.
She wasn’t entirely anti-marriage in 2015 - https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/same-sex-marriage-needs-straight-people-to-take-a-stand-in-australia-20150202-133krv.html
But how big is the threat of marriage really?
What does Clem see as the threat to women from marriage?
* Expensive
* Enslaves women
* Women are not seen as human, but as an appliance
* Patriarchy
* She is unclear on cohabitation without marriage and is “deeply romantic”, believing in romance, children and ‘kinship groups’
* She wants women to do what she wants them to do. It is fine for her to marry, raise a child and for her relationship to “evolve into something better” (oh please!) but there’s disdain for women who simply marry and get along with life.
But we ask - are there any other factors that might be wrong with marriage?
What about quality of men?
The Female Dating Strategy is a forum/website/podcast dedicated to helping women select a ‘high quality man’. Women share their truly horrifying experiences dating men. The danger in romcoms is that they preach dizzying attraction over prudent selection of a life partner. Coupled with rampant male entitlement, it can be a disaster for women.
https://www.thefemaledatingstrategy.com/
Yes, we’ve watched a romcom or 2
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy,_Stupid,_Love
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ve_Got_Mail
* But remember ‘screwball comedy’? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwball_comedy
We talked a bit about Daisy Cousens too
Daisy Cousens is a right-wing anti-feminist, who has a consistent antagonism with Clementine Ford. Ultimately we conclude it is all bread & circuses.
* Clem is a Feminist straw man, and
* Clem & Daisy are both reactionaries - their rivalry is a product that gets consumed by the news cycle
* Trans-advocates can’t acknowledge the reality of Male Violence because it undercuts the fantasy of gender identity
* Liberals can’t acknowledge male violence because it undercuts the dream of equality
*
Find us elsewhere and join us next week!
* Edie Wyatt: Substack, Twitter, The Spectator
* Kit Kowalski: Wordpress, Twitter
* Welcome to the Dollhouse: YouTube, Spotify & Google Podcasts
* Twitter: DollHouseInOz
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Intro song: Bad Girls by MIA
